Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A BALLADE OF THE BEST PIPE, by ROBERT FULLER MURRAY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A BALLADE OF THE BEST PIPE, by                    
First Line: I hear you fervently extol
Last Line: Give me a finely seasoned briar.
Subject(s): Smoking; Tobacco; Pipes; Cigars; Cigarettes


I hear you fervently extol
The virtues of your ancient clay,
As black as any piece of coal,
To me it smells of rank decay
And bones of people passed away,—
A smell I never could admire.
With all respect to you I say,
Give me a finely seasoned briar.

Poor Jones, whose judgment as a whole
Is faultless, has been led astray
To nurse a costly meerschaum bowl.
Well, let him nurse it as he may,
I hardly think he'll find it pay.
Before the colour gets much higher,
He'll drop it on the grate some day.
Give me a finely seasoned briar.

The heathen Turk of Istamboul,
In Oriental turban gay,
Delights his unregenerate soul
With hookahs, bubbling in a way
To fill a Christian with dismay,
And wake the old Crusading fire.
May no such pipe be mine I pray!
Give me a finely seasoned briar.

ENVOY

Clay, meerschaum, hookah, what are they
That I should view them with desire?
I'll sing, till all my hair is grey,
Give me a finely seasoned briar.





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